crafting life creatively with fennel
When me and Adam married, we walked down the aisle to Philippe Audibert’s cover of the Sidney Bechet tune, ‘Petite Fleur’(him and his best woman in pink, me and my best women in blue, of course).
A couple of years later, when I began my first herbal apprenticeship, the herb we worked with at the beginning was fennel. We began with a tasting, then wrote our own character sketches for fennel, before drawing this airy, sensual herb in our notebooks as we listened to music. It just happened to be ‘Petite Fleur’.
I’ve always loved fennel, as a beautiful herb full of brightness and clarity, as a tea that is at once solace and vivacity… but this conjunction deepened our connection. Every time I hear ‘Petite Fleur’ now I think of fennel and our wedding day in one breath.
Aromatic, with herbal actions in her seeds, bulb, leaf and root, she is both sweet and slightly bitter, gently warming, mildly drying, and has affinities with the digestive system, respiratory system, reproductive system, and urinary tract. She helps with indigestion or bloating, soothes wet, spasmodic coughs, clears congestion and treats urinary tract infections. She gentles congestion, menstrual cramping and promotes milk flow in nursing mothers.
Fennel is a motherly herb, warm and comforting, but not fussy. She is light and lively, with a clear vision. A wonderful ally where there is tension or for conditions that are cold or sluggish. And although she is sweet and light, she has strength and verve.
In folklore fennel was traditionally used to ward off evil spirits and is associated with Prometheus (who hid his stolen fire in a fennel stalk) as a symbol of bringing wisdom to humanity. And her connections with milk flow also made her a symbol of nurture. She’s a herb who shows that strength and softness below together.
You can’t inhale fennel without feeling refreshed. The aroma is oily, penetrating, clearing. She’s a plant of the air element, her fronds so delicate they feel light as air as she extends gracefully, effortlessly, expansive and quietly confident, sensitive and fertile.
Fennel asks us how we show up both sensitive and able to take space?
Where do we find lightness and clarity?
What brings you warmth without making you sluggish?
Where do you find moments that are clear and bright (or not) in these times?